NACOGDOCHES, Texas – With just six games left in the 2018 regular season, Lamar University (15-34, 9-15 SLC) enters the weekend with a lot riding on the outcome of its three-game Southland Conference series at Stephen F. Austin (15-31, 7-17 SLC). The Cards will be closing out a 12-game road trip trying to catch up to Nicholls State (22-27, 11-13 SLC), the team currently holding the final SLC playoff spot.
 
The Last Time Out – at TCU
 
Tanner Driskill pitched a near-blemishless six and a third innings against TCU on Friday, with only a homer in a small ballpark and a hit-by-pitch giving the Horned Frogs the advantage in a 2-0 decision. Lamar put three runners in scoring position but stranded all three.
 
Noah Sills struck out eight and mostly dominated the Horned Frogs Saturday in a 4-3 loss by the Cards. Three homers that carried about 330 feet apiece (well within the walls of most collegiate ballparks) carried TCU over Lamar despite Big Red putting the winning run at the plate in the top of the ninth.
 
TCU's Hayden Green had a career day Sunday as he held Lamar to just one hit, a single from Chad McKinney in the ninth, in the series finale. Ryan Erickson pitched two scoreless innings starting in the sixth and Marcus Olivarez threw a scoreless eighth, but the Horned Frogs were too far ahead for the Cards to make up the ground.
 
Lamar vs. SFA
 
Series Record
All-Time Series: Lamar leads 65-18
At Vincent-Beck: Lamar leads 40-6
At Jaycees Field: Lamar leads 25-12
At Neutral Site: SFA leads 2-0
Will Davis vs. SFA: Lamar leads 3-0
Cardenas vs. Lamar: Lamar leads 18-9
 
Starters:
Friday – RHP Tanner Driskill (5-4, 3.66 ERA) vs. RHP Jake Norton (1-2, 4.50 ERA)
Saturday – LHP Noah Sills (3-5, 3.25 ERA) vs. RHP Sean Beasley (2-3, 7.87 ERA)
Sunday – LHP Jason Blanchard (0-6, 3.94 ERA) vs. RHP Trevor Kiminski (2-5, 5.63 ERA)
 
Closing out a decade under the leadership of Johnny Cardenas (259-295, 145-155 SLC), Stephen F. Austin is 15-31 this season and 7-17 in SLC play, a bit of a down year for the Lumberjacks that finished sixth in the Southland in 2017 with at 29-28 overall and a 17-13 SLC record.
 
The Jacks have a 6.98 ERA this year, the highest in the Southland, and have beaned 93 batters this year, the most in the country. Their strikeout-to-walk ratio of 1.10 is also 13th in the league. Offensively SFA ranks closer to the middle of the pack with the eighth-best batting average (.272), the fifth-most doubles in the conference (84), and an average of 5.9 runs per game (eighth in the SLC).
 
Jared Martin has 17 doubles this year, the third-most in the Southland, and is one of two Lumberjacks with 50 hits. Jake Georgiades leads the team in batting average (.331) and Josh Evans is the RBI leader (37) with an incredible .530 slugging percentage. Nick Daley is the conference leader in stolen bases with 21 on the year.
 
Cody Adams leads the conference and is third in the NCAA in pitching appearances this year with 30. He has a 6.63 ERA through 36.2 innings with 28 strikeouts to 21 walks and 39 hits. Trevor Kiminski has 12 starts this year, tied for the second-most in the league, and Jesus Gamez leads his team in strikeouts with 32.
 
News and Notes on Lamar

• Lamar has had to count on freshmen in big moments this year. The Cardinals have started first-year college players 129 times this season compared to just 38 by their opponents. On the mound Big Red has started freshmen four times while facing eight opposing rookie starters.
   
• Ryan Erickson's personal renaissance from an outfielder to an ace reliever has carried through the entire 2018 season. The junior from Beaumont, Texas, has struck out 54 this year while allowing just 25 hits and nine walks. He's got a 1.29 ERA through 42.0 innings pitched in 21 appearances and is 1-0 on the year with three saves.
   
• Seven of LU's nine starters so far this season are new to the team, including Noah Sills, Jack Dallas, Grason Wright, Jason Blanchard, Chet Jones, Garrett Walker, and Taylor Rich. They've combined for a 3.95 ERA through 141.1 innings pitched, notching a 3-14 record in 33 starts with 162 hits allowed and 108 strikeouts to 43 walks.
   
• Friday starter Tanner Driskill is 5-2 since taking over the role at UIW on March 23, and 5-1 in actual Friday starts.